


Shifting

by Eggling



Series: daemon au [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: M/M, daemon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: The Doctor opens up about his daemon.





	Shifting

“I didnae expect ye tae be here so early.”

“Well, I’d finished my work on the TARDIS for the day.” Licking the tip of his finger, the Doctor turned the page of his book. As he did so, Siannu fluttered into the air, disturbed from their perch until the pages settled again. “I really am rather close to fixing the navigational system, you know.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Sitting down on the bed beside the Doctor, Jamie made as if to pull his shirt off, but paused when Teárlag sprang up onto the bed, stalking towards Siannu. He could not help but grin as her playfulness bled into his own mind. But to his surprise, Siannu swooped down from the book, shifting mid-air into the form of a black cat to wrestle with Teárlag. Caught off-guard, Teárlag was slammed against the bed, and the sensation of it all but knocked the wind out of Jamie.

“I havenae seen that one before,” he wheezed. Siannu’s habitual forms had become familiar to him, even those which bore no resemblance to creatures from Earth. He had easily recognised their hummingbird shape when he had come into the room, but he had never seen them take cat form before.

“We’ve found it quite comfortable lately.” The Doctor turned another page idly. “Are you getting into bed, or staying out? You’re letting in a rather terrible draft, holding the blankets up like that.”

“Aye, aye, I’m gettin’ in.” Even as he hurried to change his clothes, Jamie could not help but keep a curious eye on Teárlag and Siannu. The two cats had settled down and were happily engaged in washing each other. “Hey, are they… _copyin’_ Teárlag? With bein’ a cat, and all?”

Siannu’s head snapped towards him at the question. Even after knowing them for months, Jamie still found it unnerving to be addressed directly by another’s daemon, but Siannu almost seemed to enjoy alarming people. “Well, it’s ever such a good idea, to be a cat. We think it suits us.”

“What’s it like?” Jamie asked.

Reluctantly setting his book aside, the Doctor turned to look up at Jamie. _Good_ , Jamie thought. _We might finally get some answers_. “Ah – you mean what’s it like to have a cat-daemon? I rather thought you were showing _us_ that.”

“No – no, I mean… for your daemon to be unsettled.”

“You had an unsettled daemon once,” the Doctor pointed out. “Almost every sentient humanoid being in the universe has a daemon, and most of them start life with their daemons unsettled. It’s hardly an uncommon experience.”

“Aye, I ‘spose.” Jamie thought it over for a moment, staring down at Teárlag. She was so comfortingly familiar, every stripe and speckle on her fur fixed in place and mapped onto his heart. The idea of her changing so often was a strange, almost disturbing thought. “I knew who we were, when Teárlag settled. It wasnae what we expected, but it was us. You’re never going tae have that.” He regretted the words almost as soon as he had spoken them. “I mean – I didnae -”

“I never liked the thought of being stuck in one form,” the Doctor said quietly. “When I found out that the daemons of most other species settle… Well, it was an uncomfortable experience, to say the least.”

“None of your people’s daemons settle?” Jamie sat up a little straighter, focusing in on the Doctor. Teárlag’s head shot up too, her ears pricked eagerly.

“They can’t. It’s the way we’re created.” Something about the way he said _created_ made Jamie think he was not being metaphorical, but the Doctor did not explain any further. “Your daemons should be like ours, they shouldn’t settle either – but I suppose that part of the body print didn’t copy over too well. We knew less about the composition of the universe back then.”

Jamie blinked at the Doctor, baffled. He should have expected that getting the Doctor started on the topic of daemons would only raise more questions than it answered. Even so, he could not help asking another. “Is that why Siannu can go so far from ye? Were ye made that way too?”

“Oh, no.” The Doctor reached out to Siannu, curling his fingers in their fur. Jamie recognised the motion all too well. It was something he did himself, grabbing hold of Teárlag when he was nervous, and he wondered if the Doctor had picked it up from him. The prospect was odd, but somehow endearing. “No, not at all.”

“Then how -”

“I suppose you could call it an initiation ceremony.” The Doctor spoke quickly, breathlessly, his fingers becoming ever more tangled in Siannu’s fur. “As a child, you’re made to approach – well, the details hardly matter. But you leave your daemon behind. The bond stretches until it almost breaks.” He smiled down at Teárlag. “I did say you were close, when you called me a witch.”

Jamie opened his mouth to ask another question, but Teárlag had untangled herself from Siannu to butt her head against his hand, quietening him. Sure enough, the Doctor had fallen silent, his expression one of uneasy reflection. He had said all that he was willing to. At a loss for what to say next, Jamie elbowed the Doctor in the ribs gently. “Aye, well, it’s gotten us out of a good few scrapes, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” the Doctor murmured. “Yes, I suppose it has.” When he yawned, Jamie was sure it was forced, but he bit the inside of his cheek and kept his silence. “We ought to be sleeping, you know. I’ll finish up the repairs and land her in the morning.”

“Mm.” Tentatively, Jamie reached over to squeeze the Doctor’s hand. “Thanks. For – for talkin’.”

“It’s quite alright.” The Doctor’s smile was subdued. “I can’t say it’s pleasant to talk about.” He shook himself, settling down against the pillows again, and Jamie knew the conversation was closed. Nestling in beside the Doctor, he turned his attention to Teárlag and Siannu. Their fur was a little ruffled, belying the awkwardness of the conversation, but they were grooming and fussing over each other once more.

“It’s kind of sweet, isn’t it?” he murmured quietly to the Doctor. “Nice tae know we’re liked,” he added with a teasing grin.

“Oh, hush.” The Doctor swiped gently at his arm. “Of course you are.”


End file.
